Volume 5, Issue 3, March 2014


Role of Social Media and Social Networks in Consumer Decision Making: A Case of the Garment Sector

Ghania Bilal, Mirza Ashfaq Ahmed and Mirza Naveed Shahzad

Department of Management Sciences, University of Gujrat, Pakistan
Department of Statistics, University of Gujrat, Pakistan

Abstract– The aim of this research is to examine the role of Social Media (YouTube, Blogs, and Twitter etc.) and Social Networks (Facebook, Google, Linked In) on Consumer Decision Making in context ofthe Apparel Industry. The method of data collection for this research involved the survey of students and faculty of University of Gujrat, Pakistan by distribution of a self-administered questionnaire among them. Analysis technique employed is Logistic Regression. The research is limited to the students and faculty of University of Gujrat and constituent colleges. The people of different cities and students from both Private and Public sector universities in the country must be surveyed before any generalizations are made in this regard. This research provides input to different companies, particularly to those in the apparel industry, regarding what effect does having a strong social media and networks’ presence has on the customers and their loyalty for the brand. The companies must exhibit an exceptional online presence and engage with customers at a personalized level in order to ensure increased brand awareness and purchase of their brands by the increasingly tech/Internet savvy customers. The research on this particular subject has not yet matured in regard to the impact of Social Media and Social Networks on consumer decision making particularly in Pakistan. This paper contributes significantly to this aspect telling companies as to how much of an online presence is compulsory these days to gain a profitable market share and competitive edge.

Keywords— Apparel Industry, Consumer Decision Making, Customer Purchase Intentions, Social Media and Social Networks

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Statistical Analysis of Processing Data for a Manufacturing Industry (A Case Study of Stephens Bread Industry)

Ezeliora Chukwuemeka Daniel, Iwenofu Chinwe Onyedika, Offor Ikechukwu Christian and Udoye Benjamin Onyebuchi

Industrial and Production Engineering Department, Nnamdi Azikiwe University Awka, Anambra State
Mechanical Engineering Department, Federal Polytechnic Oko, Anambra State

Abstract– The research work was based on the statistical analysis of the data using statistical tools. The use of nonparametric test was used to extract information from the data. However, the reliability test was used to show how reliable the data is for analysis or modeling. Furthermore, the missing value tests were also used to observe whether the data is a complete or incomplete data. The essence of the statistical analysis is to communicate with the data and to understand the situations that this data portray.

Keywords— Giant Loaf, Long loaf, Small Loaf, Nonparametric Test, Chi-square, P-value, Statistics, Reliability Test and Missing Value Test

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Use of Energy and Exergy Analysis in Coal Fired Boiler

Lalatendu Pattanayak and Saiprem Kumar Ayyagari

Steag Energy Services India Pvt. Ltd., A-29, Sector-16, Noida, UP, India

Abstract– Overreliance on energy from coal is unsustainable because of their regional depletion and associated environmental impacts. Effective utilization of available energy and its management for minimizing irreversibility has made power plant engineers to look for efficient energy consumption & conversion. This study deals with the energy and exergy analysis of a 500 MW coal fired boiler in design and off design condition at constant pressure mode of operation. Locations and magnitude of exergy destruction is evaluated in the boiler and found that the major exergy destruction occurs at combustor followed by heat exchanger. The analyses have been performed by component wise modeling and simulation of the boiler and its heating surfaces. The results of energy and exergy efficiencies of boiler at design condition are found to be 85.54 % and 41.81 %, whereas at 80 % and 60% off design case energy efficiency increases to 85.77% and 85.71% respectively. The exergy efficiency at off design condition is 41.64% and 41.59% respectively.

Keywords— Boiler Losses, Design, Off Design, Energy and Exergy

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Towards Effective Teaching of Physics Through the Use of Relevant Instructional Materials

AMODU F.R. and ADEWOLE O.O.

Department of Physics with Electronics, Federal Polytechnic, Ede, Osun State, Nigeria
Department of Physics & Electronics, Ajayi Crowther University, Oyo, Nigeria

Abstract– The study encompassed the response of professional and non-professional teachers to the use of instructional materials towards effective teaching of Physics to facilitate effective learning among students. A survey was conducted across secondary schools comprising private and public randomly selected in Ile-Ife, Nigeria. Among the instructional materials in use comprises real objects (72%) and charts (61%) as most available tools viz the study. Other materials are mainly objects like flash card, CD or record player, flannel board, television/video etc. It is found also that other modern facilities like computer, radio and multi-media modern based instructional materials are rarely used though have high capacity of enhancing the experience of students. Undoubtedly the use of instructional materials would make the teaching and learning of Physics exhilarating. It could be deduced that Physics classes where instructional materials are rarely or not used at all is bound to produce, ill-equipped and faulty Physics students.

Keywords— Instructional Materials, Non-Professional and Professional Teachers, Physics Teaching, Real Objects, Charts and Multimedia Tools

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The Efficiency of Financial Markets by Non-Parametric Models: Artifcial Neural Networks

Sahli Lamia and Adel Boubaker

International Finance Group Tunisia, Faculty of Management and Economic Sciences of Tunis, Tunisia

Abstract– The efficiency of financial markets, the basis of the modern theory of portfolio. However, new techniques from some of the physics research, provide new perspectives. The object of this article is to briefly introduce the hypothesis of market efficiency (HEM) and show interest may have these techniques in finance. In this paper, we use a non-linear models (MLP) to study the fficiency of Tunisian financial market.

Keywords— Informational Efficiency, Artifcial Neural Networks (ANN), Multilayer Perceptron (MLP) and Financial Crashes

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